I met the biggest Hero of my life today. It was an incredible honor! His name is Michael Fox. I met Michael’s dad, Tweed, a few days ago, while on one of my coffee breaks from The Kindness Bicycle Ride for Heroes. Tweed asked me if I could talk to his son. Before he finished his sentence, my mind went to the thought that his son might be having a hard time in school or that his son might have a problem with drug use. That was not at all what Tweed wanted me to talk to his son about.
Wherever I am during the course of the day, I make myself very visible. The Kindness Bus is an advanced guerrilla marketing tool. The Kindness Bicycle extols the values for the issues it represents. I wear a highly self explanatory jersey. And when I am at a coffee shop or restaurant, I pick a table that everyone has to walk by and I strategically place my literature in full view to try and start conversation with as many people as possible. Tweed chimed in first as he was in line near my table. “I’m wondering if you can talk with my son Michael. He is Marine Corporal and he is at Balboa Naval Hospital.” In a nanosecond I had an answer for him. Tweed gave me Michael’s cell phone number and we talked soon after.
Michael is a Hero. He is more patriotic in his mid twenties, than most people are in their entire lives. Michael chose to become a Marine to protect our freedoms. Freedom to live the life we live right down to being able to ordering a triple venti skinny mocha with no whipped and be able to complain about it when it isn’t just perfect.
Michael and I met a couple of days ago. It has been nearly 12 weeks since Michael stepped on an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan. Michael lost both legs just below the knees to that IED. Many surgeries later and now learning to walk again with two prosthetic legs, Michael is amazingly upbeat. He is even talking about going to Florida to fly fish in the very near future.
Michael and I talked for an hour about family, honor, role models and both of our plans for the future, both short term and long. Tweed was quoted in a recent newspaper article that Michael will make something good come of this. Reading that quote, one could tell of the high standards Michael was brought up with. We shared many smiles about life and many other stories. Michael even bragged that he is gonna have a Bluetooth knee. I went to Balboa to thank Michael and he ended up thanking me. We are getting together in a few more days on my way north through San Diego. Thank you Michael for being of the highest moral character and being a Hero to all of us.
Complaining about that triple venti skinny mocha with no whipped being not quite perfect seems pretty flippin’ trivial about right now.
Please help us spread our message of a Goal of Kindness to schoolchildren across the country. Your donations are crucial to making this a reality.
Mail donations to:
One Million Acts Of Kindness
PO Box 770054
Lakewood, OH 44107
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Bogart is my travel companion on The Kindness Bus Tour for the next ten years. We will be on the road traveling to campuses across the country. Bogart is a eight year old Boston Terrier. He is a great people dog... he loves meeting new people. I am Bogart's fourth owner in his short 8 years of life... Not because of him but because his three previous owner's lifestyles changed after they took him in... Lucky for me!! Bogart is the luckiest, most spoiled dog on the face of the earth. He loves the bus and he loves to travel. Please come and visit him when we are on your campus.
The Blue Bird Corporation donated this amazing bus to One Million Acts of Kindness, allowing us the continue this initiative. It has been painted to closely resemble the original Kindness Bus. It will last well beyond the ten years of this mission. A very big thank you to Blue Bird from Bob Votruba and Bogart too!!
The original Kindness bus has been donated to a professor at Virginia Tech who will use it on campus and at schools in the Blacksburg area. The Kindness Bus will continue to inspire and comfort residents, students and visitors in that area for years to come.
One Million Acts Of Kindness is a goal. A goal for each person to individually perform One Million Acts Of Kindness in their life. Can you imagine a greater goal for one's life? It is a constant mind-set of kindness every day of your life for the next fifty-five years. Doing for others and kindness in your heart for everyone. It is my wish that you will dedicate your life to a charity... finding the passion in your heart for something or someone in need.
As a father of three college age kids I am concerned for the world in which all kids will live. A great way to create a safer, more caring world is for everyone to start their lifetime goal of One Million Acts Of Kindness. So I bought a bus, had about sixty family members, friends and neighbors help paint it and began a ten year journey with my Boston Terrier, Bogart, to college campuses across the country hoping to convince as many of you as possible about this much needed movement for this world. I love you guys too much to sit back and not do anything about this. Let's start a kindness movement in this country today to change the direction this world is headed!! You are the change that this world needs.